I initiated regular coverage of the biotech industry at Forbes, and wrote many of the early stories on genomics, personalized medicine, and the automation of drug making. I also launched the Arabic edition of Forbes, and oversaw what became highly influential lists in the Middle East, such as the 50 Most Powerful Arab Businesswomen. Qaddafi's daughter really wanted to be on it, and George Bush mentioned the list at the World Economic Forum. In between, I helped my father, a nephrologist, form a start-up that develops software to assist general practitioners in diagnosing patients. It is part of the exciting new field of health information technology, and it is going to shape the way we interact with our doctors.
Follow me on Twitter @ZinaMoukheiber

It’s Judy Faulkner, the founder and chief executive officer of privately-held Epic Systems, which sells electronic health records. If you’ve never heard of Faulkner, it’s because she wants it that way. Ensconced in the tiny town of Verona, Wisconsin, she shies away from the press, rarely giving interviews. When I got in touch with her back in early December for a profile in the magazine, she refused to tell her story, insisting the spotlight should shine on her customers. They make up the upper echelons of U.S. health care, and include Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Cedars-Sinai, and HMO giant Kaiser Permanente. They are willing to shell out millions to install Epic’s digital patient records. In that world, Faulkner is simply known by her first name Judy–like Madonna or Oprah.

Her influence on U.S. health care is substantial. The company says that by next year, nearly 40% of the U.S. population will have its medical information stored in an Epic digital record. Mine is. Faulkner is also the only head of a company to sit on a government-appointed committee that makes recommendations on issues that will affect not only Americans, but her own company. They include setting standards for the exchange of patient medical information.

Faulkner founded Epic in 1979, with the original name of Human Services Computing. A computer scientist, she wrote the code for those early patient databases, and built the company without outside capital. She has never raised money from venture or private equity investors, rejecting a request in 2003 from her biggest client Kaiser Permanente to get a piece of equity when her company was much smaller.

Last year, Epic generated $1.2 billion in revenues—double four years ago; it won’t disclose earnings, but says it’s profitable and has no debt. Faulkner remains the biggest shareholder, with no plans to go public. Forbes estimates her net worth at more than $1.5 billion, making her the only woman to reach the rank of billionaire by founding her own technology company. Faulkner says she’s not a billionaire. “That is factually incorrect. We are a private company and don’t share private information about stockholders or percentages. I can confirm that Judy holds less than 40% of the stock,” says her spokesperson.

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It is ironic how this interesting corporate philosophy sucks big time when it comes to practical implementation. Maybe Epic employees are required to meet their customers but apparently they don’t meet their end users and the end users in Chicago’s Resurrection Health Care are not too happy about their product.

Why would you tour Epic campus many times? Are you friends with Judy or just a regular campus tourist? Why do you think other people described diametrically different atmosphere on the campus (http://wtnnews.com/articles/212/)?

I certainly applaud Judith’s entrepreneurial spirit and her success – what a great country we live in – but below is cronyism at the highest level. Sorry, but this is just plain wrong!!!

“Billionaire Judith Faulkner, Obama’s medical information czar and a major Democratic contributor, just happens to be the founder and CEO of Epic Systems — a medical software company that stores nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population’s health data…”

Steve, thanks for your comment. I wouldn’t call her Obama’s medical information czar, but for many people, her position on an ONC committee can give the appearance of a conflict of interest. EHR vendors, whether Democrat or Republican (i.e. Cerner) are all benefiting from the HITECH Act. You might have seen the recently released Best in KLAS awards. Epic is number one with customers.

Zina, thanks for your response – at the end of the day it’s best that medical record keeping stay in the private sector – we don’t have ‘any’ evidence, and never will, that the government can run anything with any efficiency, financially or otherwise. They suffer from the OPM Syndrome (Other Peoples Money). I am a strong supporter of capitalism and the free market (yes, with all of its challenges) – no other economic system has provided so much to so many. Hey, it allows those politicians who come in as non-millionaires to leave as such – interesting how that works – it’s all about the “inside scoop” :-)

I did some initial work with Epic a few years ago when my employer bought their system. What i saw during training and integration people who confirmed age discrimination, as well as total burnout.

Almost every person we saw was 25-low 30′s, and seemed zombiesh from the constant time on the road. I understand integration requires travel but they were doing more than one company at a time and believe me changeovers were NOT easy, and we got bad info regularly I just couldnt understand that. When I went to the campus I felt we should drink cool aid at some point, just didnt seem normal. Also didnt see anyone around that looked like employees except trainers, the one time I got a tour of the developer section was like cubicle hell people smashed together, and not having the fun and zen she talks about. I left right before our third year of the migration, already 1.5 years behind which appears the norm, and being a developer myself the system is so large I can’t see how they can keep up with changes. Since I already knew someone at the company I applied, first question asked “when did you graduate high school..”, hinting at my appx of 38 at the time, the questions turned really vague and useless, then silence….